Chinese Senior Officer Meets Japanese GuestsXiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the General Staff of Chinese People's Liberation Army, met Thursday with a delegation from the Japanese Sasakawa Peace Foundation.The delegation is headed by former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Xiong, also president of the China Society for International Strategic Studies, said that Sino-Japanese relations have developed smoothly. He noted that Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the late Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi established in 1998 a friendly and cooperative partnership devoted to peace and development in the spirit of learning from history and looking forward to the future. Jiang met with 5,000 Japanese guests last May, and delivered a speech on Sino-Japanese relations, which pointed to the direction for the development of bilateral relations, he added. Xiong said that there are however problems affecting the smooth progress of bilateral ties. He stressed that the principles stipulated in the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration and the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan should be enforced, so that Sino-Japanese friendly relations can be safeguarded. He also briefed the guests on China's domestic situation and the Chinese government's stance on the Taiwan issue. Hashimoto said that the members of the delegation are well-known in Japan, and would like to promote mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries. He voiced the belief that this visit will further the friendly relations of the two countries and peoples. |
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